Urbanspoon

Indiana Epicure has recently joined Urbanspoon, a restaurant review site, under the name Hoosier Epicure.  I was forced to take that name only because I could not get the Indiana Epicure name to take.  It is obvious I enjoy food... not computers!

The premise behind Urbanspoon is seemingly simple: give diners a forum to rate and review restaurants. 

I like that notion. 

What I do not like are the self-proclaimed experts spewing venom in a most hateful manner about subjects of which it is obvious they know little.  I am somewhat discouraged by what I read on Urbanspoon:  mean spirited rantings, some with questionable motives and agendas.  Case in point: there is one fellow from Valparaiso who trashes certain restaurants with particular zeal based on dubious qualifications to do so.  It turns out, upon doing a little investigative sleuthing (mainly consisting of reading his profile), this conflict-of-interest reviewer has a side venture which benefits when his "targets" suffer.  Or how about the Valparaiso reviewer who trashes a popular breakfast destination because he assumes he knows who is "involved" with it.  (He is wrong, by the way.)

There is no integrity in a review from someone like this.

Thankfully, there are those reviews written which remain free of spite and malicious agendas.  Reviews which offer insight--both positive and negative--and are genuinely helpful.  Reviews which offer constructive criticism with the goal of educating, not destroying the livelihood of the restaurateur.  Discerning readers of Urbanspoon should take the time to learn the reviewers and the type of reviews they write, filtering out those lacking and following those of value.

So there it is:  Urbanspoon reviews should be taken with a grain of salt... preferably coarse sea salt.